Well apparatus



Jan. 7, 1958 H. u. GARRETT ET AL 2,813,925

WELL APPARATUS Filed Aug. 13, 1954 3 SheetsSheet 1 INVENTO .S 4 1% W rAZTO/PNEYJ;

Jan. 7, 1958 H. u. GARRETT ET AL WELL APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledAug. 13, 1954 Jan; 7, 1958 H, u. GARRETT ET AL 2,318,925

' WELL APPARATUS jj l' a lu i ls, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTO/P/VE YdUnited States Patent '0 WELL APPARATUS Henry U. Garrettantl Clifford M.Peters, Longview, Tex., assignors, by mesne assignments, to U. S.Industries, Inc a corporation of Delaware Application August 13, 1954,Serial N 0.. 449,632

1 Claim. (Cl. 166-131) This invention relates to a well apparatus of thetype having an expansible gripping means, such as slips, for anchoringone well conduit to another while in the well or for setting a packer orthe like. In another of its aspects, the invention relates to acombination packercirculating valve assembly adapted to be made up as apart .of a tubing string in a well.

Well packers, tubing anchors, and the like are employed for performingmany operations associated with the completion and production of oil,gas, water and other wells. In some instances, it is highly desirablethat the packer be set accurately at .a predetermined depth but this isimpractical where substantial manipulation of the tubing is necessary inorder to set the packer. Thus in many types of packers, it is necessary.in order to set the same that the tubing be raised or lowered orrotated 01 th in order to release .slips and then to move the tubiugeither upwardly or downwardly until the slips are set and then tofurther .move the tubing until .the packer element 'is expanded. Insuchan arrangement, the manipulation of the tubing not only makes itdifficult to set a packer accurately at a predetermined depth but thereis no assurance that the slips will always engage the easing at thepoint desired. Other types of packers, .commonly termed disc wellpackers, are set by breaking a frangible element extending across thebore of the packer so as to release the slips for setting with thecasing. While this type of packer can be set without extensive tubingmanipulation and can .achieve delayed action setting, it is not possibleto run tools through it without breaking the frangible element so thatit must always be set before performing wire line operations wthroughit. Still another type of packer employs fluid pressure to set the samebut this is sometimes undesirable because of the neces- .sary pressuremanipulations. It would therefore be highly desirable to possess apacker or tubing anchor which could be set with substantially no tubingmanipulation, would always have an unobstructed full-opening boretherethrough, and which would not require pressre manipulations to setthe same.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an apparatus inwhich a retractable gripping means carried by one well conduit can .beexpanded into gripping relationship with another well conduit by a wireline manipulation controlled from the .earths surface thereby minimizingnecessary manipulation of the well conduit, permitting a full-openingbore through the apparatus and avoiding the use of pressuremanipulations to set the same.

Another object is to provide a well packer which can be set at anydesired depth in a well by a wire line tool so that manipulation of thetubing can be substantially eliminated in setting the packer therebyincreasing the accuracy in setting the packer at a preselected depth andalso without necessarily employing fluid pressure to set the packer.

Another object is to provide a packer or the like including pipegripping means settable by a wire line tool, the packer having afull-opening bore unobstructed and open at all times so that wire lineor other operations can always be performed through the tubing bothbefore and after the gripping means are set and yet the gripping meanscan be set at any time by a simple wire lin op tion.

Another object is to provide apparatus in which retractable pipegripping means are set by wire line op eration positively controlledfrom the earths surface after the apparatus has been positioned at apredetermined depth in a well thereby avoiding premature setting of thegripping means while the apparatus is being run into the Well or whiletubing carrying such apparatus is being manipulated for variouspurposes.

Another object is to provide apparatus adapted to be made up as a partof a well conduit and carrying expansible gripping means exteriorlythereof, the apparatus having a part interiorly thereof adapted formanipulation by a wire line tool lowered through the interior of theconduit to control the exterior gripping means.

Another object is to provide a well packer which can be accurately setat a preselected depth in a well through a wire line manipulation andthen released by a simple tubing movement, withdrawn from the well, orre-set without such withdrawing at a lesser or greater depth by againusing a wire line tool.

In some well operations, particularly completion and work-overoperations where a permanent type completion installation is employed,it would be desirable to possess a combination packer and circulatingvalve assembly permitting opening and closing .of the circulating valveand passage :of wire line tools or others through the assembly bothbefore and after the packer is set and it is therefore another object ofthis invention to provide such a packer-circulating valve combinationselectively manipultable by a wire line tool so that operation .of eachof the packer and valve can be selectively controlled from the earthssurface to permit, for example, circulation downwardly through thetubing and then up the casingtubing annulus, or vice-versa, before thepacker is set or circulation through the casing-tubing annulus into thetubing, or vice-versa, or circulation through the casingtubing annulusinto a stinger tube-tubing annulus and thence up the tube and tubing, orvice-versa, after the packer is set.

Other objects, advantages and features of this invention will beapparent to one skilled in the art upon a consideration of the Writtenspecification, the appended claim, and the attached drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the packercirculatiug valvecombination of this invention installed in a well with the packer inexpanded position;

Figs. 2 and 2A are vertical cross-sectional views .of thepacker-circulating valve arrangement of Fig. .1 except that the packeris shown in a retracted position and in Fig. 2A, one form of a wire linetool is shown positioned for manipulation of the combination, it beingunderstood that Fig. 2A is a lower continuation of Fig. 2;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line .33 of Fig. 2A;

Figs. 4 and 4A are vertical views, partially in section and partially inelevation, showing another embodiment of the packer apparatus of thisinvention.

In generai, the apparatus of this invention includes eXpansible pipegripping means mounted exteriorly on a body with provision of meansinteriorly of the body which means are manipulatable by a wire line orother tool inside the body in order to actuate the pipe gripping meansexteriorly of the body. Thus when the apparatus is made up as a part ofa well tubing, it is possible to control a function exteriorly ofthetubing by a manipulation performed interiorly of the tubing. 1nauotherof its aspects, the invention contemplates combining with the J?foregoing apparatus a circulating valve whi ch likewise is subject tobeing opened and closed by manipulation of a wire line tool interiorlyof the body or tubing and arranged so that the valve and gripping meanscan be selectively operated to permit various well operations to beconducted.

Thus referring to Figs. 2 and 2A, there is shown a hollow or tubularbody, designated generally by the numeral 10, comprising an innermandrel 11, an outer housing 12 and an upper sub 13. Upper sub 13 andmandrel 11 are each provided with means for connectm g body as a part ofa Well conduit, such as through threads 14 permitting attachment of pin15 of a tubing string and threads 16 permitting attachment of a coupling17.

Disposed around inner mandrel 11 is an expansible resilient packing 18,made of rubber or the like, and adapted to be expanded outwardly intosealing engagement with a well casing. One (e. g. the upper) end ofpacking 18 is fixed against movement relative to body 10 as by beingmaintained in place by an annular lip 19 depending from housing 12. Theother (or lower) end of the packing is fixed to an expander 26) (as bybeing bonded to lip 21), expander being movable upwardly and downwardlyrelative to mandrel 11 in order to expand packing 18. Expander 20 isprovided with an outer inclined or wedge surface 22 which diverges fromthe longitudinal axis of mandrel 11 and upon which is slidably supporteda plurality of slips 23 each having teeth or wickers 24 for firmengagement with :a Well casing. The slips can be maintained in operativeposition with respect to expander 20 by any suitable means such as bythe dovetail keys 25 on each of the slips fitting into correspondingdovetail keyways 26 in expander 20 (Fig. 3). With this arrangement,slips 23 are maintained adjacent surface 22 while sliding both upwardlyand downwardly therealong to be expanded and retracted, respectively.The combination of expander 20 and slips 23 can be termed expansiblepipe or casing gripping means to broadly designate the illustratedstructure as well as others serving a similar ultimate function.

In accordance with this invention, the expansible pipe or gripping meansis set by the wire line or other manipulation of a part situatedinteriorly of body 10 and linked to the gripping means so that settingor releasing of the gripping means is responsive to such manipulation ofthe part. Such part is illustrated in the drawing as a sleeve 27 shiftable longitudinally along a depending portion 110! of mandrel 11,portion 11a preferably being of increased internal cross-sectional areain order to accommodate sleeve 27 thereby permitting the latter to havesubstantially the same internal diameter as the bore tubing 15. Thisprovides a full-opening bore through the apparatus to freely accommodatewire line tools or the like at all times.

A linkage is provided between sleeve 27 and slips 23 and such linkagecan be in the form of link pins 28 each of which are pivoted at one end,as by pivots 29, to ears 23a on slips 23 and at their other end, as bypivots 30, to ears 31 carried by sleeve 27. Bars 31 of the sleeve extendthrough slots 32 in mandrel portion 11a and fluid can be prevented fromflowing through these slots or openings by providing suitable seal meanstherefor. Thus O-rings 33 and 34 can be provided above and below theslots, as on the upper and lower ends of the sleeve, to form a slidingseal between the sleeve and the inner wall of mandrel portion of 11a toalways seal the slots against fluid flow therethrough despitelongitudinal shifting of the sleeve.

Part or sleeve 27 is provided with a portion engageable with a wire linetool such as the lower end 27a thereof, to thereby permit movement ofthe sleeve in such direction as to cause slips 23 to be expanded.

Any suitable Wire line tool can be employed to effect this movement ofthe sleeve and in Fig. 2A is illustrated a preferred type of such tool,one form of which is described and shown in greater detail in ourco-pendlng application Serial No. 330,294, filed January 8, 1953.Briefly, the tool comprises a housing 35 adapted to be inserted into thebore of the assembly of Figs. 2 and 2A and having an opening in one sidethereof permitting dog 36 to pivot outwardly around a shear pin 37 andto be urged to such outward position by a spring portion 38 carried on apin 39 connected to body 35. With this arrangement, body 35 can belowered through the well tubing as by wire line 40 with dog 36 riding onthe interior of the tubing until the dog is positioned below end 27a ofsleeve 27. Then an upward pull on wire line 40 will cause the dog toengage this lower end and move the sleeve upwardly to expand slips 23.When the sleeve is thus moved to its uppermost position, an additionalpull on the wire line will cause pin 37 to shear thereby permittingspring 41 to pull dog 36 downwardly into recess 42. This movement alsocauses retaining rod 43 to move downwardly since this rod is connectedto dog 36 by a lost motion connection such as by pin 44, carried by dog36, working in a slot in the lower end of rod 43. This [frees an upperdog 45 for outward movement about pivot pin 46 under the urginginfluence of spring portion 38a. The spring portion 38 is prevented frommoving out of housing 35 by a pin 47. The function of dog 45 will bemade more apparent hereinafter.

As one feature of this invention, a circulating valve is combined withthe packer in order to permit certain well operations to be performedunder the control of a wire line tool. Thus housing 12 can be providedwith ports or fluid passageways 50 which include an annular portion 50aon the interior of housing 12. A valve member, here illustrated assleeve 51, is movably positioned within housing 12 so that it can beshifted to open and close passageways 50. Thus the sleeve can beprovided with an imperforate portion 52 adapted to be positioned acrosspassageway 50 to close the same and with a plurality of ports 53 andnarrow longitudinal slots 54 adapted to be placed in register with fluidpassageways 50 to permit communication between the interior and exteriorof the tubing string. Suitable seals, such as O-rings 55, can also beprovided to seal around passageways 50 and prevent fluid flow throughthe passageways when the sleeve is in closed position. Slots 54 preventO-rings 55 from being pressured into ports 53 with resultant pinching ofthe O-rings, the slots acting in effect as relief passages permittingpressure to be equalized on the O-ring before it can be pressed intoports 53.

The sleeve is shown in Fig. 2 in closed position with its lower end 56in abutment with the upper end 57 of inner mandrel 11 thereby providingstop parts limiting movement of the sleeve in one direction. The upwardmovement of the sleeve is limited by its upper end 58 abutting the lowerend 59 of sub 13 when ports 53 register with passageways 50. It shouldbe noted that whether the sleeve 51 is in its upper or lower position,there will always be a part thereof, e. g., a part of its upper andlower ends, exposed for engagement by the wire line tool. Thus dog 36can be made to engage lower end 56 of sleeve 51 to move the sameupwardly to open position or dog 45 made to engage the upper end of thesleeve to move it downwardly to closed position.

With the foregoing arrangement, the assembly can be made up as a part ofa tubing string and lowered into the well with the packing 18 incollapsed position. During such lowering into the well, slips 23 andcars 31 are prevented from catching on the casing which wouldprematurely set the slips, by means of spacer lugs 60, one of which isspaced below each ear 31 and extends far enough outwardly from body 10to prevent the ears or the slips from rubbing on the sides of thecasing.

If the packer is to be set and then the circulating valve opened, thewire line tool shown in Fig. 2A is lowered through the tubing until dog36 can engage the lower ara es end of sleeve 27. An upward pull on thewire line moves the slips 23 outwardly into engagement with the casingafter which a slight lowering of the; tubing causes the slips andexpander to move relative to mandrel 11 (mandrel 11 actually movingdownwardly relative to the casing) thereby causing packing 18 to beexpanded into sealing engagement with the casing. An additional upwardpull on the wire line causes pin 37 to shear and the dog 36 to dropdownwardly. The wire line tool can then be withdrawn, shear pin 37replaced and the tool again run into the hole until dog 36 engages lowerend 56 of sleeve Sil to raise the sleeve to open position after whichthe tool can-be withdrawn from the hole.

On the other hand, it maybe desirable to open the circulating valvebefore the packer is set in which case the wire line tool can be loweredinto the hole until dog 36 engages sleeve 51 to raise the latter to openposition. The tool can then be lowered an additional increment until thedog 36 engages sleeve 27 to set the slips. Pin 37 can then be shearedand the tool removed from the tubing.

When it is desired to close sleeve 51, the wire line tool can be loweredinto through the tubing until the dog 36 engages the lower end of thissleeve and then pin 37 is sheared thereby releasing dog 45. This dog isthen engaged with the upper end 58 of the sleeve and the latter moved orjarred downwardly to closed position. When it is desired to retractslips 23, the tubing can be merely raised which will permit the slips toretract and the packing to be collapsed to the position shown in Figs. 2and 2A. The packer can then be withdrawn from the hole or reset withoutwithdrawing the same at a greater or lesser depth than that at which itwas originally set merely by properly positioning the tubing and againusing the wire line tool to set the slips.

Since the slips are initially set without any movement of the tubing,and the only movement of the tubing which might be employed is thatwhich is suflicient to expand packing 18, it will be apparent that thedepth at which the packer is set can be accurately controlled since theonly variables which need be considered are the stretch in the tubingand the distance which the tubing must move to expand packing 18. Eachof these can be relatively accurately calculated from data known tothose skilled in the art.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the arrangement of Figs. 2and 2A can be run into the hole and then fluid circulated downwardlythrough the tubing to the bottom of the hole and upwardly through thetubingcasing annulus before the packer is set or the circulating valveopened. Contrariwise, reverse circulation can also be employed. On theother hand, the packer can set and the circulating valve openedpermitting reverse circulation through the circulating valve into thetubing or downwardly through the annulus between the tubing and anextension tube or stinger tube landed in the tubing (not shown), as inpermanent completion operations well known to those skilled in the art.If desired, fluid can also be passed down through the tubing and thestinger tube and thence out the circulating valve back up through thecasing-tubing annulus. The operation contemplated with this tool arethus very flexible since each of the packer and circulating valve can beselectively operated to perform their various functions.

Another embodiment of the packer is shown in Figs. 4 and 4A, theprincipal difference between this embodiment and that of Figs. 2 and 2Abeing in the arrangement of the linkage between the sleeve and theslips. For this reason many of the parts in Figs. 4 and 4A bear numeralsidentical to those in Figs. 2 and 2A to designate parts having similarfunctions. In this embodiment, the linkage between sleeve 27 and slips23 is provided by an external sleeve 61 slidably mounted upon mandrelportion 11a and connected to the slips by spacer links 62. Spacer links62 have outturned ends 63 and 64 respectively disposed in an annularslot 65 in sleeve 61 and a slot 66 in theslips. Slots 66 are madeslightly wider than spacer links '62 to hold the spacer links in ropercir- 'ciuni'ferential and longitudinal alignment. It will be noted thateach of slots and 66 are somewhat oversize relative to the ends ofspacer links to permit the latter to pivot in these slots 'as the slipsinove inwardly and outwardly along the outer surface '22 of expander 20.

Means are also provided for holding the slips in engage ment with thesurface and can cemprisethe dovetail slide arrangement 25 ar'id'26 asillustrated in Fig. 3.

External sleeve '61 is connected to the inner sleeve 27 by one or morestuds threaded through the outer sleeve and extendin into the innersleeve via sl'ot 3'2. Studs 67 can be prevented from disen a ing theinner sleeve by means of an annular rin '68 held in place by snap ring69.

It is desirable that suitable stops be provided to prevent excessiveendwise force being applied to packing 18 when the tubing is lowered toexpand the same. There are several ways that such stops can be providedand in Fig. 2A, such stops can be provided by making the upper end of32a of slot 32 to be in a vertical position such that ear 31 engages theupper end of this slot when packing 18 is expanded to its desiredmaximum. Another type of stop is provided in Fig. 4 in which opposingshoulders 70 and 71 are respectively provided on mandrel 11 and expander20 for engagement when the packing 18 is at its maximum expandedposition.

The circulating valve shown in Fig. 2 has not been illustrated inconjunction with the embodiment of the packer shown in Fig. 4 and 4A butit will be understood that it can be incorporated in this latterstructure. Also, the circulating valve can be omitted from the structureshown in Figs. 2 and 2A.

The packer shown in the drawings is of the hookwall type in whichdownward movement of the tubing tends to expand packing 18. It will beunderstood that this arrangement can be reversed so that upward movementof the tubing urges the slips outwardly and causes the packing to expandand downward movement of the tubing releases the slips. Such can beaccomplished either by inverting the structure shown in Figs. 2-2A, and4-4A, or by placing the pipe gripping means at the top of packing 18 andmaking the bottom of the packing fixed with respect to the innermandrel.

It should also be apparent that packing 18 can be eliminated andexpander 20 fixed relative to the tubing (as by welding, pinning or thelike) to provide a tubing anchor for anchoring or securing tubing withinthe easing or the like. Further, it is contemplated that in someinstances it will be possible for the wire line tool to be employed tonot only move slips 23 outwardly into engagement with the casing butalso to apply sufficient force to move the expander sufficiently toexpand packing 18 into sealing engagement with the casing so that thetubing need not be lowered to effect this seal or if it is lowered, thelowering will be only to more firmly set slips 23 in the casing.

From the foregoing it will be seen that this invention is one welladapted to attain all of the ends and objects hereinabove set forth,together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherentto the apparatus.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are ofutility and may be employed without reference to other features andsubcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of theclaim.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the invention withoutdeparting from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matterherein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

The invention having been described, what is claimed is:

In a well, a well casing, a well tubing extending into said casing, saidtubing carrying casing gripping means exteriorly thereof which areexpansible into gripping relationship with said casing, an expansiblepacking surrounding said tubing and connected to said casing grippingmeans for expansion of the packing into sealing relationship with thecasing upon expansion of the gripping means, means for expanding saidgripping means including a part disposed within said tubing and movablerelative thereto, a linkage between said part and said gripping meansand transmitting force generated by movement of said part to saidgripping means to thereby expand the same, a fluid passageway throughthe wall of said tubing communicating between the interior and exteriorof the tubing and spaced proximate to said packing, a valve memberinternally of said tubing and movable relative thereto to open and closesaid fluid passageway, and a wire line tool movable through said tub- 152,630,866

ing and selectively engageable with said part and valve member totransmit force thereto to respectively expand said gripping means and tomove the valve member between both its fluid passageway opening andclosing 5 positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS RaganMar. 10, 195"

